Hundreds of thousands of people again lined the 201-kilometre route from York on a brutal and unpredictable day of racing.

Nibali (Astana), the 2013 Giro d'Italia champion, left it late but timed his bid to the line to perfection to secure victory ahead of a number of his rivals for the overall title.

He also claimed the race leader's maillot jaune, from stage one winner Marcel Kittel (Giant-Shimano), who endured a difficult day.

Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) had not travelled to Sheffield to view the stage but took to the front up the day's final climb, the brutally steep, 800m long Jenkin Road.

The Spaniard was unchallenged until, within sight of the summit, defending champion Chris Froome (Team Sky) stretched his legs.

The descent saw and run-in saw numerous attempts to break off the front, all of which floundered until Nibali burst clear inside the final 2km.

The Italian champion, nicknamed the Shark, bared his teeth and led by 50metres under the flamme rouge at 1km to go and his rivals looked to each other to react.

World champion Rui Costa (Lampre) led the pursuit, with Froome on his wheel, but the lack of a coordinated chase ensured Nibali would win and he was able to celebrate a first Tour stage win of his career.

Froome's chief lieutenant Richie Porte punctured approaching the climb and was dragged back to the pack by Bernhard Eisel and Danny Pate as Team Sky attempted to control the pace at the front of the peloton.

Kadri crested the summit first but the field came together on the Cote de Midhopestones, with Kittel more than five minutes adrift and his brief stay in the maillot jaune coming to an end.

Four more climbs were to follow, but the peloton stayed together to the summit of the penultimate climb when Pierre Rolland (Europcar) and Jean-Christophe Peraud (Ag2r La Mondiale) surged clear.

Peraud was reluctant to work with his compatriot and was swept up before Rolland's lone attempt to stay away ended with 8km to go.

Jenkin Road came with just under 6km to go and that is where the race ignited.